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A Senior Advocate of Nigeria Olisa and human rights activist Olisa Agbakoba has made a sudden U-turn to support the decision of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in court.
His latest support for Atiku’s decision to challenge Buhari’s victory in court is said to have sent a strong signal to the All Progressive Congress (APC) the kind of forces it’ll be facing in court.
He also said his earlier advice to the former vice-president not to go to court was because of the “uphill task” he would face following the suspension of Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria.
Atiku had rejected the result of the presidential election which he lost to the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) Muhammadu Buhari, TheCable reported.
But while his party was mulling challenging the outcome in court, Agbakoba had advised against such move, saying such is “not the right decision.”
However, in a statement on Wednesday, Agbakoba said apart from the suspension of Onnoghen, he is also worried that no presidential election result has ever been nullified in the court in Nigeria’s democracy.
He also said he never predicted that Atiku will lose at the presidential election petition tribunal.
“My initial decision to charge Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar not to go to court is based on the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari has subverted the Supreme Court by the removal of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Walter Onnoghen and the appointment of the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria,” he said.
“As one of Nigeria’s experienced Election Petition lawyers, I know that the burden of proof to succeed in an Election Petition is unfairly huge. We first have to prove that there are electoral irregularities and in my view, once you prove this, you should succeed.
“Unfortunately, even if you prove electoral irregularities you will have to show how that affected the results of the Election. Remember that the gap between Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari is about 4 million votes.
“It is clear to me that the Presidential Election results were manifestly riddled with electoral irregularities. Now that Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has approached the Court, it is important to emphasize that he is constitutionally entitled to do so. My personal advice has become irrelevant. I fully support and wish Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar every success.”
Photo Credit: Premium Times
Olisa Agbakoba, is the former president of the Nigerian Bar Association from 2006 to 2008 and a founding partner of Olisa Agbakoba and Associates, a leading maritime specialist law firm in Lagos.
Credit: Gongnews
He is also the founder of Nigeria’s foremost human rights organization, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO). He became known through his work in human rights and democracy movement in Nigeria. He was also the founder of United Action for Democracy and the Zambian pan-African human rights organization AfroNet.
He was a defender for the Civil Rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa who was executed and was arrested several times because of his pro – democratic activities.
Share your views with us on this latest change of stance by Olisa Agbakoba calling on Atiku to challenge Buhari in court.
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